AP PhotoBoxing trainer Freddie Roach works with a fighter at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles earlier this month.

Neither HBO nor ESPN likely will cop to holding some sort of unofficial competition when it comes to sports documentaries, but it’s become clear that both sides will continue to up the ante.

Which is a benefit for all of us.

For years, HBO was the bellwether of the genre, rolling out consistently outstanding features on everything from Joe Louis to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird to Vince Lombardi. In the 1990s, it gathered classic baseball footage and turned it into the fascinating “When It Was A Game” series, and later created the unparalleled “24/7” franchise that gives viewers unprecedented behind-the-scenes glimpses.

In recent years, though, ESPN finally used its vast clout and resources to create its own batch of stellar features that have provided a worthy successor to those fine “SportsCentury” biographies at the turn of the century. The “30 for 30” series helped kick it off, and 2011 built on that success with “The Fab Five,” “Unguarded: The High Life of Chris Herren,” “The Marinovich Project” and “Catching Hell,” to name just four.

Judging by two recent releases from HBO, 2012 promises to be just as strong.

The first episode of “On Freddie Roach” debuts at 9:30 p.m. Friday. It will be followed by “Namath,” which premieres at 9 p.m. Jan. 28. Both are worthy of a DVR setting.

“On Freddie Roach” is a six-episode, unscripted series that follows the Hall of Fame trainer working with boxers, including Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan, as he battles Parkinson’s disease. The show certainly doesn’t pull any punches, pun fully intended.

The first episode contains a long training sequence in the ring with Khan working hard with Roach, frequently giving the trainer little shots to the head. The punches may not be anywhere close to knockout blows, but it doesn’t exactly seem healthy either, especially when the camera can’t help but repeatedly zoom in on Roach’s tremors.

But that’s probably exactly what executive producer Peter Berg, the man responsible for both the “Friday Night Lights” movie and TV series, was looking for. “On Freddie Roach” certainly is raw with long, unbroken cuts. Frequently, the only sounds are those coming from the boxing ring.

HBO was given full access to all areas in Roach’s life, from his Hollywood-based gym to Khan’s locker room before a fight with Zab Judah, to even the bathroom at his house. That kind of clearance somehow manages to produce a show that often is both humanizing and unsettling.

In the end, though, it provides an intimate portrait of a man staying true to the sport he loves while battling a debilitating disease.

That kind of devotion also can be seen in “Namath,” the 90-minute special that focuses on the life and times of iconic quarterback Joe Namath.

Not surprisingly, it focuses largely on the biographical rise of Namath from Beaver Falls, Pa., wunderkind to the University of Alabama to the New York Jets. As nice as it is to be reminded that he was signed by the Jets for a then-staggering $427,000 as a rookie or that he guaranteed that win against the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, it’s the off-the-field details that prove most riveting.

Now 68, Namath doesn’t shy from addressing the numerous injuries that ended his playing career or the issues with alcohol that eventually led to an embarrassing scene with ESPN reporter Suzy Kolber on a live NFL broadcast. It’s those kind of glimpses that showcase someone who clearly is more than the larger-than-life “Broadway Joe” persona so many fans remember.

Then again, obtaining those kind of insights are the exact reason why HBO regularly excels with its documentaries. So many of us already know the details of what, when and where for someone like Namath, but we don’t always know the why or the how.

The subjects aren’t obligated to provide those answers, but it’s sure as heck a lot more interesting when they do.